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EULOGY 



ON THE DEATH OF 



CAPT. ABRAM VAN OLINDA, 



WHO FELL AT 



THE BATTLE OE CHAPULTEPEC, 

SEPTEMBER 13, 1847. 



SELIVSBED IN THB 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ALBANY. 
ON FRIDAY, JUtY 7, 1848, 

BY COL. JOHN SHARTS. 



/ 



ALBANY: 

PRINTED BY JOEL MUNSELL. 

1848. 



£1403 
A 



EULOGY. 



« <» » » 



His noble spirit has taken its flight 

To unknown realms away. Will not hia 

Name be fondly cherished ever? 

His memory live — his deeds of valor too? 

His precious relics here await the rite 

Of final sepulture. And we his friends, 

His relatives and all, have come up 

Hither, in melancholy mood, 

To mingle tears and solemn sighs, 

In grief, for our own champion slain ! 

On three several occasions, within a space of 
time less than three-quarters of a century, have the 
American people been compelled to resort to the 
disagreeable necessity of arras, those ultimate arbi- 
trators in national disputes. On each occasion we 
have been invincible and victorious, and humbled 
our enemies into acknowledgments of national re- 
spect. The invasion of Mexico, by authority of the 
American government, produced the most astonish- 
ing and overshadowing sensations throughout the 
civilized globe. The annals of no nation contain 
records of equal achievements. The conquest of 
Mexico, nearly three centuries and a half ago, by 
Ferdinand Cortez, was boasted of by the Spanish 



nation, as one of the greatest military achievements 
on record. Hannibal, the great Carthagenian gene- 
ral, was idolized and wortjliipped for reducing Spain 
to a state of subjugation, and in conceiving the bold 
and original idea of crossing the hitherto impene- 
trable Alps, and penetrating Italy to the very gates 
of Rome. The praises of centuries, and ages and 
years, have beeft awarded to Ajax, Ulysses and 
Agamemnon of ancient Greece — Tarquin, Brutus, 
Caesar and Pompey of Rome — Nelson, Abercrom- 
bie and Marlborough of England — Napoleon, Murat 
and Ney of France, for mighty deeds of war. The 
pages of history are profuse with encomiums of 
praise, bestowed upon the above named heroes, for 
their mighty skill and wonderful success in arms. 
But when the impartial historian shall assume the 
duty of recording the events connected with the con- 
quest of Mexico, in 18-16-7, he will find material for 
his pen, greatly surpassing in wonder, more extrava- 
gant in amazement, and more brilliant in execution, 
than is exhibited on any other record extant; he will 
portray with glowing and brilliant colors the con- 
duct of our soldiery in the bannered field, amid the 
scenes of stirring strife, and feats of daring prowess 
which crowned our arms with a splendid blazon of 
glory, and won for their authors an enshrinement 
in the pantheon of military history. The mighty 
deeds of American valor will be inscribed in cha- 
racters of thrilling patriotism on pages of everlasting 
light. It is immaterial whether the skill, strategy 
or bravery of Scott, Taylor, Butler, Worth, Wool, 



Quitman or Shields, are reserved and selected for 
the comparison, or the invincible, indomitable 
daring of their officers and men. Palo Alto, Mon- 
terey, Buena Vista, Vera Craz, Cerro Gordo, Cha- 
pultepec, and the Capital, will occupy brighter pages 
in history than the invasion of England by Julius 
Caesar, the conquest of Spain by Hannibal or Napo- 
leon, or the great victory at Waterloo by Welling- 
ton. Every officer and soldier of our gallant army 
can truly exclaim, as did Julius Caesar, after con- 
quering Pharnaces, at the great battle of Zela — "I 
came, I saw, I conquered." 

The attack of the Mexicans upon the commands 
of Captains Thornton and Hardee, on the 24th of 
April, 1846, on the east side of the Rio Grande, 
about fifty miles above Fort Brown, in which six- 
teen Americans were killed or wounded, and the 
residue, consisting of sixty-three men, were cap- 
tured by the Mexicans, and conveyed in triumph 
to their capital, caused the first American blood to 
flow. This act was considered by our constituted 
authorities, as a hostile invasion of our soil. That 
was the first commencement of hostilities. Gene- 
ral Taylor, then in command at Corpus Christi, im- 
mediately communicated the fact of that high- 
handed transaction to the authorities at AVashing- 
ton. Congress almost unanimously declared, that 
"war existed by the act of Mexico." Then it was 
that the whole American nation became aroused ; 
the sword that had quietly reposed in its scabbard 
for more than thirty years, became instantaneously 



unsheathed, and the much loved banner with its 
spangled stars, was unfurled to call the slumbering 
Sons of Freedom out, to avenge the blood of their 
countrymen, and to preserve and maintain the 
grossly insulted honor of their nation. 

The war note was thus sounded, and however 
unwelcome its key, the patriots who are always 
ready to protect their country, became at once 
aroused with its shrill echo and penetrating reverbe- 
rations. It was the clarion of their own country 
that called them to the protection of their country's 
honor. It was the thrilling outcry of the Eagle of 
America, which had left its eyrie in the skies, to 
arouse the dormant nation into life and vigorous 
action. The chord thus magnetized, vibrated 
throughout the entire Republic, and its pulsation 
reached every American heart. 

Never in the history of ancient or modern times, 
has a war been conducted with the same unparalleled 
success. Its numerous victories have crowned with 
imperishable honors, the officers and men, and shed 
a reflected glory on their country. Glorious was 
the fate of every hero who fell fighting his country's 
battles. Rich in the gratitude, and honored in the 
blessings of his countrymen, his name shall be 
handed down to posterity as a martyr to glory in 
the cause of patriotism. And what, though the 
loved voices of home did not soothe his last mo- 
ments — the shout of victory robbed death's sum- 
mons of its terrors, and the stars and stripes floating 
in triumph over his head, robed the grim monster 



himself in visions of unfading glory. What though 
his dying eyes no tender mother closed ; what 
though the eyes of love wept no sympathetic tears, 
and the hand of affection planted no violet, no Avil- 
low to wave over his cold bed, nor the place of his 
rest graced with floral offerings; still a nation's 
tears have moistened the newly turned sod of his 
grave, and great Nature herself decked it in her 
fairest flowers, and showered upon it her sweetest 
offering, as if enamored of the spot where a hero 
slept. And though that wilderness of sweets alone 
marks the narrow limits of a soldier's grave, his 
epitaph is written on the brightly illuminated pages 
of his country's history — and his monument is 
erected in the memory of his countrymen. 

Great as is the success of the American army, 
wonderful as it is admitted to be — - it is not great 
alone because it has triumphed in every engage- 
ment with the foe. Great is that army in a thousand 
ways — incomparably great! Great in daring, in 
action, and endurance ; great in zeal, discipline and 
influence. 

Europeans tell us they have set rules and regula- 
tions for every thing — "rules for every movement 
• — rules for advancing, charging, besieging, retreat- 
ing, and for procuring supplies. But you Americans 
defy all rules, and yet you triumph. You obtain 
provisions from places where the enemy starves; 
you procure mules and horses where your enemy 
cannot mount a squadron or furnish a baggage train 
You rush from mountain barrier into gorges and 



8 

defiles, alike unchecked by walled cities, castles 
bristling with cannon, fortresses made by nature 
and strengthened by art, impassable swamps and 
frowning precipices — and after overcoming man 
and nature, from Vera Cruz to the heart of the land, 
you captured even the almost inaccessible capitol 
itself! All this you have done, too, with a mere 
scouting party. There must be something in this, 
which we Europeans can't understand!" 

The fact is, there is something in it which they 
do not understand. It is this: Every man feels 
himself equal to each foe in the enemy's legions, 
and the spirit within him inspires a confidence of 
victory. Our secret is this: every American soldier 
in an engagement is just as much interested in the 
result as the commanding general himself, and feels 
his individual power, responsibility and glory equally 
at stake. If the general becomes disabled, the 
colonel leads the charge; if the colonel is wounded, 
the major or captain leads on with no less daring; 
if the captain shrinks from the encounter, the sub- 
ordinates struggle with the more desperate valor; 
and if the last officer is struck down, then each pri- 
vate will fight while a drop of blood is left in his 
veins, or a stripe of the American ensign is left for 
him to defend. 

Who can predict the ultimate consequences 
which this Mexican war will produce upon man- 
kind ? Who will venture to measure the extent of 
its influence ? Who is there possessed of foresight 
and sagacity sufficient to penetrate with his imag^i- 



9 

nation, into the recesses of futurity, and estimate its 
consequences upon unborn generations? Has any- 
important result already been accomplished? Has 
the glory of the contest of freemen in this war, had 
any influence in dethroning the French monarch on 
the anniversary of the day which Americans have 
consecrated to the memory of the immortal Wash- 
iNGTOiV? Why are thrones tottering in Europe? 
Why is the whole world in a state of excitement 
even to fermentation? What is producing the 
mighty upheaving of empires in Austria, Italy, Po- 
land, Prussia and Germany? What spirit stirs up 
the great masses in those countries, in one tremen- 
dous effort to assert the rights of man ? What pro- 
duces the convulsions in Ireland ? What stirs up 
every Irish heart with vengeance and indignation? 
Why is it, that that bleeding, humiliated, starving, 
dying nation is now panting, more than ever, for a 
national existence, for a restoration of its nationality, 
for a government among the nations of the earth? 
It is the spirit of Equality, Fraternfty, Liberty ; it 
is the germination of the seeds of the tree of Liberty, 
which the breeze of heaven has wafted o'er the 
ocean. The influence of our institutions is extend- 
ing over the continent of Europe — it is the great 
feature of the age — and is this moment spreading 
with the force, power and velocity of electricity — 
with the rapidity of lightning playing upon magic 
wires. It is the arraignment of despotism before 
the great tribunal of humanity, summoned to give 
an account to the people of its stern stewardship 
2 



10 

over the institutions of the old world, during the 
last fifteen centuries. This spirit will extend itself 
until the nations of the earth shall better understand 
their common destiny and their rights; when they 
shall constitute a common unity, a republic of bro- 
thers and of friends — forming the true government 
of the human race. 

The New York Regiment is a corps of A'^olunteers 
organized under a law of Congress of May 13, 1846. 
More than six months were they reserved as minute 
men. When in December following, the order 
came for the regiment to' rendezvous for active duty, 
they promptly embarked for the scene of action, 
with a full complement of rank and file. They were 
not inured to privation — the weary watch — the 
forced march — the stinted rations. They were not 
drilled to the erect position — the firm, steady, 
measured step — the quick eye, the calm and col- 
lected mien — the upright military bearing — nor the 
gravity and steadiness of regular veterans. They 
were unused to wars alarms; they were strangers to 
the tented field, to garrison duty, and to the dread- 
ful carnage of the battle-field. They were untutored 
in the science of arms, and unused to the shrill bu- 
gle note of warrior preparation for the mighty com- 
bat. They knew not 

The battle plain, where sword, and shield, and bayonet, 
Flashed in the light of mid-day ; where the strength 
Of serried hosts is shivered, and the grass 
Green fi-om the soil of carnage, waves above 
The crush'd and mouldering skeletons ! 



11 

The volunteers knew no profession but that of 
peace, and they had always delighted in reposing 
upon its flowery fields of happiness, contentment 
and joy. They delighted in the arts of peace, not 
in the deadly strife of arms. Nay, with us, they 
looked upon war as among the worst of evils. Yet 
they believed there was a time when tame submis- 
sion to multiplied injuries, and ever increasing 
insults and outrages, must come to an end; when 
the character of a nation, like that of an individu- 
al, must be vindicated. They believed, too, that 
Mexico had wronged us much, and for which satis- 
faction was about to be taken. Longer forbearance 
from such a people could only have invited indig- 
nity, and insured the contempt of the other nations 
of the earth. It was thus that the patriots of the 
First Regiment of New York Volunteers reasoned 
with others and among themselves; it was thus 
that friends, brothers, sons, felt ; and such the im- 
pulses that impelled them onward. They loved 
our great Republic ; they regarded it as the fairest 
column ever erected by the hand of man — as the 
beacon light of the world ; and they firmly resolved 
to protect it in its high mission to regenerate the 
world, though it carried them through the red 
glare of battle down to death! Impulses, sacred, 
lofty and patriotic as these, induced their enrolment 
under the folds of our own star-spangled banner. 
No less or meaner motive could have torn them 
from their homes, their loved families and their ar- 
dent friends. They left freemen's home to do battle 



12 

in Freedom's glorious cause. They bore away with 
them, upon their banner, the inspiring excelsior, the 
ESCUTCHEON of Ncw York. They planted it upon the 
battlements of the Mexican capital, not only pure, 
brilliant and unsullied, but with fresh deeds of glory 
inscribed with shining characters upon its silken 
folds. It remained proudly floating in the fresh 
breeze of the conquered empire, until lowered with 
distinguished glory, by the only order which could 
ever be obeyed — the injunctions of the ouve branch 

OF PEACE. 

There is a vast difference between volunteers and 
regulars, in their relation to the government. The 
latter pursue the science of war as a profession ; 
their whole lives are dj^voted to the camp, and by 
their prowess, mount the ladder of fame, and by 
continued deeds of chivalry, many advance near to 
and succeed in mounting its topmost round. Not 
so with volunteers. They only enlist in the hour 
of their country's peril, at the call of duty, and when 
their services are actually needed. When the 
emergency becomes quieted, the honor of the na- 
tion protected and vindicated, then the survivors 
return to the bosom of their homes, and resume 
their usual peaceful avocations, receiving only their 
country's gratitude and praise. 

It is asserted by writers in aristocratic govern- 
ments, that standing armies of regulars are indis- 
pensable in wars of invasion. Has not the American 
army in Mexico completely eradicated that fallacy? 
Have not the invaders been triumphantly success- 
ful? We have shown, that by a proper discipline, 



13 

inspired with patriotism, private citizens can very 
readily be transformed into veteran soldiers. We 
have shown, also, that this class of soldiers possess 
equal valor, courage and fortitude, with more ex- 
perienced regulars. The glorious results at Buena 
Vista, where our entire force was mostly volunteers, 
fully tests the correctness of this assertion. The 
wonderful exploits of Col. Doniphan, with his regi- 
ment of Missouri volunteers in New Mexico, is an 
evidence how successfully dangers can be overcome 
■ — how mountains, rivers, deserts, defiles, can be 
encountered and passed, by resolute American 
citizen soldiery, determined on success. In con- 
nexion with the regular army, the volunteers have 
been exposed to the same perils, encountered the 
same hardships, underwent all the vicissitudes of a 
soldier's life, except defeat, and together triumphed 
on many a sharp contested battle plain. 

It was natural, that in our anxiety to learn intel- 
ligence from the army, we desired particularly to 
hear from the New York regiment, from our Albany 
company. It was not altogether because many of 
our friends and intimate associates were attached 
to this portion of the army, that we so eagerly 
panted for information; but it was also on account 
of the fact, that the honor, the chivalry, the military 
character of the Empire state, were intrusted to the 
care of this regiment, the only one on active duty 
in old Mexico, from this state. At length, the 
information arrived, that a succession of hard fought 
battles carried our army into the city of the Mon- 



14 

tezumas ; and it was with the utmost gratification, 
that the information thus imparted, gave us the 
assurance, that the foremost in the roar of battle, 
the bravest in the conflicts, and among the most 
conspicuous in the dreadful contests and glorious 
victories, was the regiment from this state, and the 
company from this city. We exulted in the fact, 
that the Empire sons had met the Mexican hosts, 
with undaunted hearts and potent hands. Their 
enemies, at every step, were scattered over every 
crimsoned field ; they faltered not an instant, but 
on every occasion, met the enemy with a wall of 
iron resolution, showers of leaden hail, and an impen- 
etrable front of bristling bayonets. The Albany 
company, with its three Albany officers, were con- 
spicuous in every engagement, from the gulf to the 
capital. The whole valley contains indubitable 
evidences of their valor. Every man rushed with 
impetuous zeal upon the enemy; penetrated his 
lines, broke his ranks, scaled his fortifications, defy- 
ing the leaden ball, the iron grape, or bayonet's 
charge. They leaped with agility from bastion to 
parapet, scattering the astonished Mexicans amid 
the smoking ruins of their supposed impenetrable 
barriers and castles. They feared not 

" The justling rocks where fierce Charybdis raves, 
And howling Scylla whirls her thundrous waves !" 

Previous to their arrival at the gates of the capi- 
tal, the regiment became materially crippled and 
reduced, by the loss of several officers and men. 
Burnett, badly wounded — Baxter, Van Olinda, 



15 

Chandler, Gallagher, weltering in their blood — 
still, with a spirit of indomitable daring, led by the 
noble BuRNHAM, onward and forward the gallant 
remnant pressed, with bayonets charged, until the 
obdurate foe, in quadrupled numbers, were repulsed, 
the last great victory triumphantly achieved, and 
the stars and stripes of their own state hoisted the 
first, amid cheers, huzzas and exultations, upon the 
tower of the Mexican capitol. 

Let honor be extended to the survivors of that 
noble band; they have well earned our warmest 
applause. But to the fallen, the lamented dead, 
what homage shall we pay? All gratitude to their 
memory! Yet how feebly can the most glowing 
fancy, the most eloquent tongue, and the most pro- 
found intellect portray their heroic services. The 
silent sympathies of the heart are alone capable of 
accomplishing such a deserving, befitting eulogy. 

This war has placed the Albany company, high 
on the list of heroes. From the impregnable battle- 
ments of Vera Cruz, all along the hard fought plains, 
horrid ravines, and mountainous passes to the gates 
of the great capital, the same dazzling success has 
marked the career of this band of veterans. "Fate 
seems to have delighted in surrounding them with 
dangers," in exciting the mournful forebodings 
and fciympathetic fears of their friends at home, that 
the meteor of their glory might dispel the darkness 
of despondency, and dry up by its brilliancy, the 
tears of the afflicted and bereaved. What shall I 
say of our Van Olinda ? Shall we seek him amidst 



16 

the bristling bayonets, waving high the sword which 
he had vowed never should be disgraced, the heroic 
leader of his gallant company, with the undaunted 
Burnett and Baxter, and the valorous spirits of our 
Farnsworth, Griffin and Burgess ? In every place 
he showed himself high above all praise of mine. 
His laurels shall be twined with those of his depart- 
ed comrades, and those wreaths of glories, shall be 
the proudest boasts of their surviving friends, till 
memory perishes, and gratitude is no more. Wher- 
ever worth is appreciated, and where glory is known, 
such deeds shall be wafted on the breath of fame, 
like flower seeds on the winds of Heaven. There 
can be found no lustre more pure, nor more deserv- 
ingly earned, than that which radiates around the 
names of the gallant heroes, who fought and con- 
quered with Van Olinda. 

But the mission of the sword is ended; it is again 
encased within its scabbard; the panoply of war is 
laid aside; Peace — welcome, delightful Peace — is 
again restored. Our armies are returning from the 
uimatural strife, and resuming their ordinary avo- 
cations in peaceful life. 

Their warrior "brows bound with victorious wreaths:" 
Their " bruised arms hung up for monuments. " 

May another occasion never arrive, when wars and 
the dreadful tumults thereof, shall be heard in this 
republic. Let the destiny which we are commis- 
sioned to fulfil, be one of good will to all men, ene- 
mies to none. 

The occasion of our present gathering, my friends, 



17 

is one to us of no common occurrence. The cere- 
monies of this day are of no ordinary nature. They 
are of the most solemn and imposing character. 
This vast assemblage of the people, is a spontane- 
ous outpouring of heartfelt sorrow. It is a willing 
tribute of unadulterated grief, and unalloyed sadness. 
The multitudes who have come up hither this day, 
are anxious to mingle their hcavings of heart and 
tears together, in token of their deep affliction. The 
solemn, mournful and imposing funeral procession, 
the muffled drum, the sabled furled banner, the slow 
and measured march of his military associates — the 
serious and melancholy air and appearance of the 
Brotherly Order, of which he was also an honorable 
member in fraternal affection, in their impressive 
habiliments and regalia — all tend to render this 
occasion one of interest, instruction and reverence. 
The precious remains of one now lies before us, 
who only a few short months since, possessed a 
spirit as buoyant, a heart as guileless, a mind as 
patriotic, a hand as devoted, as any other man's. 
There lies the decaying tabernacle, which encased 
as noble a spirit as ever winged its flight to the 
mansions of eternity. Within that enclosure is con- 
tained the ashes of a patriot, a hero, and a man. 
As yesterday only, the precious relics which now lie 
inanimate and unconscious before us, possessed life, 
spirit, vigor, health, and elasticity; to-day, they are 
to be deposited in the bosom of their mother earth! 
And we, the creatures of an hour, have congregated 
here to day, to pay the last sad honors to departed 
3 



18 

worth, which to-morrow it will be required to be 
rendered unto us. 

It is manifestly appropriate, on this solemn occa- 
sion, that I should speak somewhat concerning him, 
whilst he was in a state of existence amongst us. 
Captain Van Olinda, in early life, enroled himself 
a private, under Captain Strain, in the Albany Re- 
publican Artillery. He rapidly rose in distinction 
and regular promotion, and held the second office 
in that patriotic corps, when the Mexican war com- 
menced. He immediately volunteered to aid his 
country, when the shrill clarion resounded through 
the nation. No sooner had the requisition from 
government, calling for troops to aid in the prose- 
cution of the war with Mexico, been received by 
the executive of New York, than Van Olinda, at 
the head of eighty devoted patriots, enroled him- 
self for instant service, and promptly reported for 
active duty. He did not hesitate an instant — he 
made no abstract inquiries — he scrutinized not 
the justice of the war^ — he had no time to deter- 
mine by mathematical demonstration, what the 
probable cost of the war might be, in life or trea- 
sure. He only knew that his country called for 
immediate assistance, and he most nobly obeyed 
her summons, marched to the field of most immi- 
nent danger, breasting himself in defence of his 
country's honor. 

The objects which actuate gallant spirits, are not 
always rightly estimated. What was it that in- 
duced our departed friend to enter the service of 



19 

his country ? Was it a desire to satiate a reckless 
passion for the din of battle and the field of mortal 
carnage? Certainly not. Within his breast quietly 
reposed a heart as free from tumult as any other 
mortal possessed. Within his head was a mind as 
quiet, gentle, inoffensive and undisturbed as the 
innocent lamb. Retiring, unassuming, modest and 
unobtrusive in his nature and disposition^ — kind, 
affectionate, frank and friendly in his demeanor — 
he was never regarded in any other light, than a 
man more eminently adapted to adorn and bless 
domestic life, than one of commotion, carnage and 
war. What then induced him to enter the army? 
AVhat impelled him to leave behind an affectionate 
wife, and an infant child, father, mother, sisters, 
brothers, and friends? Why did he abandon a life 
of endearing happines, ease and comfort, and sub- 
ject himself voluntarily and enthusiastically, to the 
dangers of the mountainous billows of the raging 
gulf, the imminent perils of an unhealthy climate, 
and the still greater impending horrors of the battle 
field? It was that resistless love of country^ — that 
indescribable patriotic ardor, which none but the 
American heart can feel. It was the identical electric 
spark which caused two hundred thousand of free- 
dom's volunteers to spring spontaneously upon their 
feet, when the first blood fell on the valley of the Rio 
Grande. It was the same spirit which actuated the 
heroes of 1812, to vindicate "Free trade and sailors' 
rights," and maintain the " freedom of the seas." It 
was the identical glorious impulse that nerved the 



20 

mighty arms and stimulated the indomitable hearts 
of the American revolution. It was the soul stirring 
call of country! That country for which Van 
Olinda died, induced him to offer his life a willing 
sacrifice for the preservation of its honor, which he 
so highly prized. 

He passed through many a conflict, in cutting his 
pathway from the castle of Ulloa to the capital. 
After having bravely driven the enemy before him 
from the gulf to the gates of the great city, Captain 
Van Olinda fell in advance of his company, whilst 
in the meritorious and daring act of scaling the 
breast works of Chapultepec. He fell on the me- 
morable 13th of September, 1847, in the 29th year 
of his age. He fell on that field of carnage, immor- 
tality and fame, where so many other gallant and 
devoted sons of New York were also sent to their 
last, their final account ! Loud amid the din of bat- 
tle, and the roar of musketr)'', was heard his heroic 
voice," encouraging his men to victory — ordering 
them to grapple with the foe, and persuading them 
to remember the day and their country. But the 
moment the victorious prize was within his grasp, 
a mortal blow struck him to the earth ! 

In giving the official report of this great battle, 
Brig. Gen. Quitman incorporates these sentences: 

" At the base of the liill, constituting a part of tlie Avorks of the for- 
tress of Chapuhepee, and directly across our line of advance, were the 
strong batteries before described, flanked on the right by some strong 
buildings, and by a heavy stone wall about fifteen feet high, which ex- 
tended around the base of the hill towards the west. Within two hun- 
dred yards of these batteries were some dilapidated buildings, which 
afforded a partial cover to our advance. Between these and the wall ex- 



21 

tended a low meadow, the long gi-ass of which concealed a number of 
wet ditches by which it was intersected. To this point the command , 
partially screened ,advanced by a flank, the storming parties in front, 
under a heavy fire from the fortress, the batteries, and breastworks of the 
enemy. The advance was here halted under the partial cover of the 
ruins, and upon the anival of the heads of the Soutli Carolina and New 
York regiments, respectively, Gen. Shields was directed to move them 
obliquely to the lefl, across the low ground, to the wall at the base of the 
hill. Encouraged by the gallant general who had led them to victory at 
Churubiisco, and in spite of the obstacles which they had to encounter 
in wading through several deei) ditches, exposed to a severe and galling 
fire from the enemy, these tried regiments promptly executed tlie move- 
ment, and effected a lodgment. In directing the advance, Brig. Gen. 
Shields was severely wounded in the arm. No persuasions, however, 
could induce that officer to leave his command, or quit the field. * * The 
brave Captain Van Olinda, of the New York regiment, was killed at the 
head of his company. Lieut. Col. Baxter, of the same regiment, a valua- 
ble and esteemed officer, wliile gallantly leading his command, fell, mor- 
tally Avounded, near the wall. * * The gallant New York regiment claims 
for their standard the honor of being the first waved from the battlements 
of Chapidtepec. The veteran Mexican General, Bravo, with a nundier 
of officers and men, were taken prisoners in the castle. They fell into 
the hands of Lieut. Chas Brower, of the New York regiment, Avho report- 
ed them to me." 

Although we are gratified with this opportunity 
of heing permitted to deposit with our own hands, 
these remains in the " narrow house," still we 
greatly sorrow, that the relics of our own brave and 
undaunted Kearney, are not also committed to our 
care, for solemn funeral interment, beside the dust 
of her who was his comrade and partner in life. 
But he sleeps far away in his rude, lonely and soli- 
tary grave. His weeping comrades — 

" Sadly and quickly they laid him down 
On the field of his fame fresh and goiy; 
They carved not a line, they rais'd not a stone, 
But left him alone in his glory." 

It is an ancient and sacred custom to rescue from 
foreign lands the remains of gallant heroes slain in 



22 

general combat. To know that their graves will 
not be trodden by foreign feet, or their bones left to 
whiten the battle fields in an enemy's country, is a 
reflection most consoling. To know that they are 
preserved, and interred in their own country, in the 
midst of their relatives and friends who have gone 
before them, and in the spot which is held sacred 
for such holy purposes; and that their graves are 
watered with the tears of affection, and the green 
sward decorated with the primrose, the laurel and 
cypress, are matters of endearing happiness and 
ccnsolation. It assuages the grief occasioned by 
such a death, to know that all there is left, is reli- 
giously deposited beside those members of the same 
family who have previously departed into eternity — 
side by side to repose, as in life they had together 
commingled. A cenotaph erected here, would have 
been a poor consolation, if Captain Van Olinda's 
remains had been interred upon the spot where he 
fell — three thousand miles from his home. 

The gratifying intelligence has this morning 
reached Albany, that company H, (Van Olinda's,) 
arrived at New Orleans on the 26th of last month. 
They may therefore soon be expected amongst us. 

As an act of justice to those brave spirits who 
have yielded their lives in defence of the nation's 
honor, and as a tribute of gratitude to their surviv- 
ing widows and children, a bill was introducedjn 
Congress, by Senator Dix, of this state, allowing 
annuities to be granted to such survivors; and I am 
extremely gratified in being able to announce here 



23 

to-day, that the bill finally passed the House of 
Representatives, on the day before yesterday, and is 
undoubtedly now a law. The application is based 
upon a memorial, signed by most of the officers 
under Gen. Scott, when at Puebla, the day previous 
to their marching towards the capital. 

The gratitude of the nation will undoubtedly be 
extended to the families of those who so imploring- 
ly and deservedly petitioned. When a soldier nobly 
falls in battle, a nation mourns his fate, and should 
adopt his children. No hero will be permitted to 
die obscurely and be forgotten. Although the heart 
rending intelligence may arrive, that a husband or 
a father's blood has been poured out upon the crim- 
soned valleys of Mexico, yet there is something of 
consolation in the thought, that their country has 
provided a life insurance for the benefit of the dis- 
consolate widow and unconscious orphan. A law 
of Congress of such a meritorious character, will 
be hailed with approbation, by every American 
citizen. 

Relatives and Friends of the Departed Captain — 
I feel, and fully realize, how incompetent I have 
been to accomplish the task which I was invited to 
undertake. It were better to have assigned this 
melancholy duty to the care of abler hands. But 
no human being, however gifted, could be so elo- 
quent as the occasion itself; and I have felt, as I 
have heard my own voice echo here, that it was an 
intrusion on your thoughts too sacred to be disturbed. 
Let the heart of this great assembly speak — let it 



24 

make its silent but impressive offering to the memory 
of the honored dead. This is no time for the living 
to address you. Tlie dead officer is speaking ! He 
is holding communion with your thoughts! and 
long after my poor voice is stilled in death, and your 
animated forms are mouldering into dust, and the 
mournful moss accumulating upon our tombs, his 
noble example of patriotism and valor, will be 
speaking to our children's children, through the 
brilliant page of history, or from the sculptured 
monument, animating them to emulating deeds 
of glory and renown. 

Let these remains be consigned to the green earth, 
in some pleasant, rural, quiet residence of the dead, 
where the solitude of great Nature exists, and where 
she herself holds converse and communion with the 
bright orbs of morning, noon and night. Let the 
spot be sacred in which these precious relics shall 
be deposited' — hallowed be the place where they 
shall rest. Let the melancholy requiem be reve- 
rently chaunted o'er his honored grave. Let it be 
consecrated by the tears and affections of this whole 
community, and the sleep of the warrior citizen be 
sacred, until time shall be dissolved into eternity — 
until the bright morning of the final resurrection, 
when the loud blast of the last trumpet shall call 
the millions of every nation to their inevitable, ever- 
lasting judgment. Let him, 

" Peaceful, sleep out the Sabbath of the tomb, 
And wake to I'aptui-es in the life to come." 



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